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  • State of the Nation: President Tinubu kill corruption not Nigerians, Pastor Tunde Bakare vomits fire

    State of the Nation: President Tinubu kill corruption not Nigerians, Pastor Tunde Bakare vomits fire

    …dares president’s watch dogs to attack him if need be

    Fire spitting Pastor Tunde Bakare has advised President Bola Tinubu to kill corruption not Nigerians that he took an oath to protect.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports this advice was contained in a 30-page document released by Pastor Bakare where he pointedly dared the president’s watch dog to attack.

    In the document made available to newsmen, Bakare touched on both local, international, state of the economy dragging alongside the dislocated economic policies of the Tinubu’s administration.

    Read him:

    “Mr President, Kill Corruption, Not Nigerians! What is further clear concerning our domestic challenges is that, by imposing hardship on Nigerians without going after those corrupt individuals, corporations and government officials who have plundered Nigeria over the years in the name of subsidy, the president has picked the wrong fight.

    “In his Monday, July 31,
    2023 address to the nation, the president stated that the vast sum
    of money which “would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security…was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish
    bank accounts of a select group of individuals.”14 The president
    further stated that the subsidy removal policy was to stop the squandering of monies on “smugglers and fraudsters.” This compels us to ask the following salient questions:
    i) Who are these select groups of individuals into whose
    deep pockets our national treasury has been funnelled? ii) Who are these smugglers and fraudsters that have been defrauding our nation in the name of subsidy?
    iii) Who are these nameless characters that have fed fat at the
    expense of the poor? Or are they all sacred cows?

    “Mr President, if you are truly on the side of the poor, if you are serious about the welfare of the people, if you truly want the poor to breathe, as you once said, 16 then kill corruption, not
    Nigerians.

    READ FULL TEXT BELOW:

    TEXT OF SPEECH
    BY PASTOR ‘TUNDE BAKARE
    AT THE STATE OF THE NATION BROADCAST
    ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 2023.
    VENUE: THE CITADEL GLOBAL COMMUNITY
    CHURCH,
    30, KUDIRAT ABIOLA WAY, OREGUN, IKEJA,
    LAGOS, NIGERIA.
    THEME: VICE, VIRTUE AND TIME: THE THREE
    THINGS THAT NEVER STAND STILL
    PROLOGUE

    “Fellow citizens of Nigeria and friends of our nation; members of
    the press, both local and international; I welcome you to our first State of the Nation Broadcast since the current administration assumed office on May 29, 2023.

    “The theme of today’s broadcast is: “Vice, Virtue and Time: The
    Three Things That Never Stand Still.” This theme draws
    inspiration from both the sacred Scripture and the words of two
    Englishmen: a cleric, Charles Caleb Colton, and a historian and
    politician, Edward Gibbon. In Revelation 22:11-12, we read the
    admonition of Jesus:

    “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let
    him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still;
    he who is holy, let him be holy still. 12 “And behold, I am
    coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every one
    according to his work.

    “As though echoing the words of Christ, Charles Caleb Colton
    wrote: “He that is good will infallibly become better and he that
    is bad will as certainly become worse; for vice, virtue, and time,
    are three things that never stand still.” 1 On his part, Edward
    Gibbon wrote: “All that is human must retrograde if it [does] not
    advance.”

    “Fellow Nigerians, time is far spent on our journey to
    nationhood and it is abundantly clear that instead of advancing
    forcefully in the right direction, we are regressing forcefully in a
    frantic race to the bottom; there is simply no middle ground.

    “Please lend me your ears as I, by God’s grace, show the way out
    of our present national dilemma.
    Salute to the Nigerian Citizen
    I would like to begin this address by identifying with my fellow
    Nigerian citizens who are often unceremoniously described as
    “ordinary Nigerians” or “average Nigerians.”

    ” I salute the
    Nigerian citizen who has, for so long a time, borne the brunt of
    the capricious policies of political actors and the greed of a
    colluding elite. From a wrongly implemented naira redesign policy to an impulsive fuel subsidy removal announcement, and from a drowning of purchasing power in an attempt to float the naira, to an unbearable increase in the cost of basic amenities,
    the past and recent months have been particularly excruciating
    for the Nigerian citizen.

    “I am talking about employees who have been forced to trek owing to the unaffordable spike in transportation costs; parents struggling to bridge the gap between their life savings and the
    cost of living; graduates whose chances of getting a job have become slimmer due to the impact of the economy on the
    labour market; I am talking about that trader whose meagre daily income has further diminished in value due to the
    dwindling value of the naira; that farmer who looks on in agony as his produce rots on the farm due to transportation challenges, inflation and insecurity; those children who will invariably be
    sent home in September due to outstanding fees.

    “I acknowledge you, fellow citizens of our nation, because you
    are the true heroes. The rulers that are immune to the pain that
    you have to go through daily are not the true reformers.

    “You, the Nigerian citizens, who have borne the burden of an ill-planned
    and vaguely-led reform agenda, are the true reformers. You are the true reformers because of your adaptability; you are the true reformers because of the creative ways by which you adjust to hardship, reform your personal and corporate economies, and
    navigate the increasingly difficult terrain.

    ” You, the so-called
    ordinary Nigerians, are the true reformers because, somehow,
    hoping against hope, you show up every single day in what would appear to be a federal republic of diminishing returns.
    Therefore, my fellow Nigerian citizens, I make bold to say that there is nothing average about you; there is nothing ordinary about you; there is indeed nothing common about you; you are
    distinguished citizens of our nation and you deserve the best of
    the land.

    ” The purpose of government is not to serve cronies; it is not to pander to corrupt business interests; it is not to patronise a consumptive political class; it is not even to appease neocolonial foreign powers: the purpose of government is to serve you, the Nigerian citizen. The focus of this address is thus
    simply how to ensure that the government serves you.

    None of These Things Move Me:

    “I am not unmindful that this address will be taken out of context
    by political propagandists within and outside of government. I am not unaware that my motivations will be questioned and my intentions maligned. It is expected that the minions and
    mudslingers in the corridors of power will pick a fight because they will misconstrue this as an attack on their paymasters.

    “Some may come against me with threats because they will see this address as an onslaught on the enterprises that they have
    built at the expense of the Nigerian people. My preemptive
    response to these attack dogs is simple: bring it on.

    “If there are any wise ones among those surrounding the
    president, among the institutions of law and order, among the
    members of the National Assembly, among the power blocs that
    are sympathetic to the president, among the would-be cabinet members, or even among the stakeholders of the All
    Progressives Congress (APC), such wise ones would listen attentively and take this address as a wake-up call, laden with truths that could salvage a ship drifting in the gale of a
    socioeconomic and political Euroclydon.

    ” However, if those
    around the president choose to be reactionary rather than
    responsive, their anticipated attacks on my person will be
    shrugged off like water off a duck’s back. In the words of
    Charles Caleb Colton, “Nothing more completely baffles one
    who is full of trick and duplicity himself, than straight-forward
    and simple integrity in another.”

    ” Besides, in the words of the
    Apostle Paul, “None of these things move me.”4 What moves
    me is the needless suffering that is normalised and perpetuated
    by bad governance and irresponsible public policy.

    Leadership by Impulse:

    “Amid the turbulent start to the administration of Asiwaju Bola
    Ahmed Tinubu, I have held my peace, hoping that wisdom
    would prevail even while the government was in its so-called
    honeymoon phase. When, in his inauguration address on May
    29, 2023, President Tinubu announced that “fuel subsidy is
    gone”5 despite the cautious exclusion of that contentious subject
    from the inauguration speech by his advisers,it was clear that
    our nation had been unwittingly plunged into chaos by a very poor change management process.

    “Whatever the president’s true motivations were, it is clear that
    he put the cart before the horse. What is also clear is that the president was economical with the truth by giving Nigerians the impression that he was taking a courageous move to remove the fuel subsidy when the previous government had already taken
    that step.

    ” As Nigerians would later learn, subsidy payment had already been ended by the Buhari administration, and no subsidy
    was paid in 2023 even though there was provision for it on paper up to June 2023.7 What is again clear is that, in line with change management principles, the president should have
    handled more circumspectly the announcement of such an issue
    that borders on the livelihood of the Nigerian citizen.

    ” That would have spared Nigerians the reactionary scarcity and price
    hikes that immediately followed his announcement. Furthermore, what is even clearer is that the president had been handed a month of grace by the previous administration; a month that
    should have been used to put in place cushioning effects before
    the official expiration of the subsidised economy.

    “It is noteworthy that, in his address to the nation on July 31,
    2023, President Tinubu adjusted his tone and admitted that the
    past administration had indeed taken action on subsidy as there
    was no budgetary allocation for it from the end of June.8
    It is also noteworthy that he admitted that there was a gap between
    the removal of the subsidy and the roll-out of palliatives.

    “While I commend the president for coming clean on this issue, it is in
    the best interest of the nation for Mr President to consider
    intended and unintended consequences before committing to a
    course of action.

    “Let us now consider the cost of just one impulsive action to
    Nigerians in the past few months. Even as the president in his
    July 31 address celebrated the N1 trillion reportedly saved from
    subsidy removal, what he did not tell Nigerians is the cost of
    his approach to the Nigerian economy. According to the
    Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises
    (NASME), about 4 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country have shut down in the two
    months since the subsidy removal was announced.

    ” This is even as jobs have been lost and households have been thrown into
    disarray due to a poorly managed policy.
    This same impulsive leadership style was evident when the
    president recently led the Economic Community of West
    African States (ECOWAS) to violate an ancient principle of
    diplomacy that is recognised even in the Holy Book: offer
    peace before declaring war.10 By placing military invasion on
    the table from the very start 11 before subsequently exploring
    diplomatic options with the coup plotters in the Republic of
    Niger, President Tinubu once again put the cart before the horse, thus placing Nigeria and the subregion in a precarious situation.

    “Truly, “those that are the loudest in their threats, are
    weakest in the execution of them.”13
    For any foreign invasion to succeed in the long term, the
    support of the locals is essential. From the spillover effect of
    subsidy removal to the effect of sanctions, local support for
    Nigeria and her leaders among Nigeriens is at an all-time low.

    “It is, therefore, counter-intuitive to engage in what could be a
    protracted conflict. This much the Tinubu-led ECOWAS ought
    to have learnt from the aftermath of America’s invasion of Iraq
    in 2003.

    ” While we condemn the spate of coup d’états in West
    Africa, we recognise that the situation calls for deep introspection on the part of African leaders and makes even more urgent the case for good governance.

    “The call upon Nigeria at this time is not so much to compel submission in the
    subregion through the force of might, but to command alignment through exemplary governance.

    “The real question is
    whether President Tinubu is capable of providing such moral
    leadership even in the domestic context.
    Mr President, Kill Corruption, Not Nigerians
    What is further clear concerning our domestic challenges is that,
    by imposing hardship on Nigerians without going after those
    corrupt individuals, corporations and government officials who
    have plundered Nigeria over the years in the name of subsidy,
    the president has picked the wrong fight. In his Monday, July 31,
    2023 address to the nation, the president stated that the vast sum
    of money which “would have been better spent on public
    transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national
    security…was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish
    bank accounts of a select group of individuals.”

    ” The president
    further stated that the subsidy removal policy was to stop the
    squandering of monies on “smugglers and fraudsters.” 15 This
    compels us to ask the following salient questions:
    i) Who are these select groups of individuals into whose
    deep pockets our national treasury has been funnelled? ii) Who are these smugglers and fraudsters that have been defrauding our nation in the name of subsidy?
    iii) Who are these nameless characters that have fed fat at the
    expense of the poor? Or are they all sacred cows?
    Mr President, if you are truly on the side of the poor, if you are
    serious about the welfare of the people, if you truly want the
    poor to breathe, as you once said, 16 then kill corruption, not
    Nigerians.

    “Fellow citizens, the rallying cry by which the Save Nigeria
    Group (SNG) galvanised Nigerians in January 2012 at Gani
    Fawehinmi Pack, Ojota was “Kill Corruption, Not Nigerians!”
    This was our cry when we made it evident that our fight was not
    against the removal of the fuel subsidy but against the
    corruption in the system. This was our fight when, amid the
    threats to my life and family, right there at Ojota and live on
    national and international television, I called out by name those
    individual and corporate entities who had allegedly ravaged our
    nation.
    Mr President, given the complexity of the Nigerian economy,
    we are not thoroughly convinced that your palliatives will be
    sufficient to cushion the effect of your policies on the Nigerian
    citizen. What we do know, however, is that, on May 29, 2023, you swore an oath to “be faithful and bear true allegiance to the
    Federal Republic of Nigeria,” and to “preserve, protect and
    defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
    17
    May I remind you, Mr President, that Chapter 2, Section 14(2)(b)
    of the Constitution states that “the security and welfare of the
    people shall be the primary purpose of government.”18 Therefore,
    in compliance with your oath of office, and in accordance with
    the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, our demand
    on you, the current occupant of the Office of the President, is the
    same demand that we made 11 years ago: Mr President, Kill
    Corruption, Not Nigerians.
    Some might say that you, Mr President, are too tainted to fight
    corruption because you were escorted into the presidency by a
    retinue of corruption allegations. Some might even describe you
    as transparently opaquely corrupt because, despite the indicators
    of state capture allegedly linked to you, no one has proved these
    allegations against you in any Nigerian court of competent
    jurisdiction. Some might argue that even the road you took to
    the presidency was itself paved with filth from the cesspool of
    corruption and that you are, therefore, incapable of mounting
    any genuine fight against corruption.
    Mr President, while we admit that, as of today, our nation has
    transitioned from an administration that came to power on the supposed wings of integrity and anti-corruption to one that
    cannot be described as such, the fact remains that you are today
    the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with enormous
    powers to fight against corruption in its hydra-headed forms.
    Even if the allegations against you are valid, you can still have a
    Road to Damascus19 experience and decide today to stand on the
    side of probity and bring to book the vested interests that have
    built their wealth on the ruins of our nation. You can decide
    today to take the burden of reforms off the Nigerian people and
    go after the corporations and individuals who have plundered
    our nation. You can decide today to stand with the poor and take
    the fight to the plunderers.
    Mr President, even though you have announced some palliatives,
    let me remind you that palliatives cannot address the root cause
    of the problem. In my recent exchange with Dr Joe OkeiOdumakin, a veteran of many progressive battles, she brought
    the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary definition of the word
    ‘palliative’ to my attention. It is “a medicine or medical
    treatment that reduces pain without curing its cause.”
    20
    Therefore, we demand that you address the root cause of the
    problem. Take the yoke off the neck of the poor, go after the
    looters, recover the loot, and retool it to the benefit of Nigerians.
    In simple terms, Mr President, Kill Corruption, Not Nigerians.

    Some may ask at this juncture: Who exactly are these plunderers
    that have been enabled over the years to launder our collective
    patrimony through a dubious subsidy regime? How much can
    we actually recover from them? My fellow citizens, tighten
    your seat belts as I take you back to certain alarming events that
    occurred in our nation’s recent history; events that have elicited
    lingering questions.
    A History of Criminal Impunity
    11 years ago, on Friday, January 13, the fifth day of an
    unprecedented gathering of Nigerians at Gani Fawehinmi Park,
    Ojota, the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) brought to the attention of
    Nigerians the outcomes of an external audit carried out by two
    audit firms, KPMG and S. S. Afemikhe & Co.21 These firms had
    been contracted by the Federal Ministry of Finance to audit the
    petroleum sector. Their investigations revealed that the fuel
    subsidy regime was a smokescreen for corruption.
    Among other findings, the audit exposed22 fraudulent deductions
    of up to six times higher than the authorised subsidy
    disbursements. It also revealed revenue leakages of about N800
    billion from the upstream sector, and N1.2 trillion from the
    downstream sector, which included the fraudulent subsidy
    system. The key agencies in the petroleum sector, including the
    Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), were indicted. In addition, 80% of the questionable subsidy claims
    were traced to leading oil marketers whose company names
    were listed in the report and whose major shareholders are
    known to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the
    Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
    Following these findings, the Adhoc Committee on Fuel
    Subsidy in the House of Representatives made explosive
    findings23 that were even more alarming and damning than the
    earlier audit reports. Permit me to restate some of these findings
    as they were cited in a publication by the Save Nigeria Group
    (SNG) titled “Kleptocracy Unlimited”:
    24
    1. The theft of N310 billion by NNPC on kerosene subsidy in
    spite of an official policy against paying subsidy on the
    product;
    2. The theft by NNPC of N285 billion above the
    recommendation by the Petroleum Product Pricing and
    Regulatory Agency (PPPRA);
    3. The payment of N999 million 128 times in 24 hours to some
    companies totalling N127.872 billion by the office of the
    Accountant-General of the Federation;
    4. Unaccounted-for foreign exchange to the tune of $402.6
    million; and
    5. The theft of N230 billion forensically traced to 72 companies.

    “Given these and other alarming findings, the committee
    recommended the refund of N1,067,040,456,171.31 (one trillion,
    sixty-seven billion, forty million, four hundred and fifty-six
    thousand, one hundred and seventy-one naira, thirty-one kobo)
    to the national treasury by the NNPC, the PPPRA and the
    indicted marketers. Furthermore, 18 companies25 that failed to
    appear before the committee were recommended to the anticorruption agencies for investigation to ensure the refund of
    N41,936,140,005.31 (forty-one billion, nine hundred and thirtysix million, one hundred and forty thousand, and five naira, thirty-one kobo).

    “Unfortunately, rather than the anti-corruption agencies
    prosecuting the indictees and recovering looted funds, what happened next put an abrupt end to what Nigerians had thought was a semblance of probity in the House of Representatives. As
    Nigerians may recall, the State Security Service (SSS), now
    called the Department of State Services (DSS), in collaboration
    with Mr Femi Otedola, chairman of one of the major indicted
    companies, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd., masterminded a
    sting operation that allegedly exposed the corruptibility of the
    Chairman of the House Committee, Farouk Lawan, thereby
    impugning the credibility of the committee and silencing these
    investigations. Even when a follow-up committee set up by
    President Goodluck Jonathan and led by Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede indicted 21 companies to the tune of N382
    billion, no concrete action was taken by the then government
    to do justice, prosecute offenders and recover the funds that
    rightly belong to the Nigerian treasury.

    ” Meanwhile, the subsidy
    regime was reinstated and Nigerians recovered from the shock.
    Years later, in March 2017, under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the House of Representatives instituted a fresh investigation into the opaque and secrecyshrouded petroleum subsidy regime from 2012 to May 2016,
    especially the activities of the NNPC and the marketers.

    “This probe once again yielded no fruit. However, on June 29, 2022,
    the House of Representatives commissioned yet another
    investigation on subsidy payments on petroleum products,
    especially petrol, under the Buhari administration.29 The House
    also investigated the state of refineries and found that Nigeria
    has spent N11.35 trillion so far maintaining moribund
    refineries.

    ” This is even as subsidy allocations worth $2.1 billion and N3.1 trillion have been reported “missing and
    unaccounted for between 2016 and 2019.”

  • 2023: I saw a nation going down the drain – Bishop Oyedepo warns

    2023: I saw a nation going down the drain – Bishop Oyedepo warns

    The Founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo has warned Nigerians ahead of the 2023 general elections after revealing he was against voting for the current government in 2015.

    Oyedepo said this at the ongoing Shiloh program at the church’s headquarters in Ota, Ogun State.

    He said, “I think I am prompted by the spirit we need to pray for this nation. I warned this nation in 2015 that we were heading for crisis and trauma, many were washing their mouth. They are off today.

    “God does not require consensus to raise a prophet. I saw a nation going down the drain, I cried. There are many prophets of politicians who speak what they want to hear.

    “I have been very silent, what we need now is not a leader, it is a deliverer. Almost nothing remains except the church that can be called a nation”.

     

  • Buhari hails ex-President Jonathan at 65

    Buhari hails ex-President Jonathan at 65

    President Muhammadu Buhari has rejoiced with former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on his 65th birthday, Nov. 20, 2022.

    The President, in a congratulatory message by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina on Saturday in Abuja, noted the unique position of the former president in the growth and development of the nation.

    He lauded Jonathan for sacrificing personal ambition for the greater good of the country, and successfully winning the hearts of Nigerians and the world as a man of peace, by carrying on his legacy of truce and amity to many countries.

    President Buhari joined the family, particularly his wife, Patience, and mother, Eunice, in celebrating another milestone in the former president’s life.

    The President recalled Jonathan’s political journey, which he said, had been evidently shaped by the mercies and grace of the Almighty God, starting as deputy governor, 1999-2005, governor, 2005 -2007, vice president, 2007-2010 and president, 2010-2015.

    According to him, friendliness, loyalty, and humility of Jonathan continue to open opportunities for service to humanity while defining a path for the former president to invest in people, institutions, and nations.

    He, therefore, prayed for Jonathan’s well-being and that of his family.

  • What Christians need to defeat enemies of the nation – Adeboye

    What Christians need to defeat enemies of the nation – Adeboye

    Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has urged Christian to be united irrespective of their denominations.

    Adeboye gave the advice at the Chapel of Mercy, Dadin-Kowa, Jos, on Sunday.

    He said he was in Jos to commiserate with the family of the Late Rev. Isaac Oyebamiji, the Founder and Senior Pastor of Chapel of Mercy, as well as members of the church.

    Adeboye, who described the deceased as one of his spiritual sons, apologised for his inability to visit immediately Oyebamiji died.

    ”It took me this long to come for this visit because we had a close relationship with your late pastor for over 40 years.

    ”So, it has not been easy with me trying to accept the fact that he is no more, but I’m here today to condole and pray for his family and indeed all members of this congregation.

    ”The servant of God has finished his assignment on earth and has gone to be with his maker; ours is to live right so that we will meet him on the resurrection day.

    ”But I want to use this opportunity to call on Christians in Nigeria to be united in order to defeat the enemies of the nation,”he said.

    Adeboye advised family members of the deceased to emulate the good ways of their father and sustain the legacies he left behind.

    Responding, Pastor Olutoyin Oyebamiji,  wife of the deceased thanked Adeboye for the visit and described it as encouraging.

    Adeboye was accompanied for the visit by his wife, Foluke.

    Oyebamiji, 64, died in February after a brief illness in the United States.

    He held a doctoral degree in Ministry, with emphasis on ”Leadership and Preaching” from the Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky, U.S.

  • A nation in chains – By Dakuku Peterside

    A nation in chains – By Dakuku Peterside

    Something remarkable happened last week at the 2022 Nigeria Bar Association( NBA)conference in Lagos. However, social media was awash with mundane, trivial, irrelevant, and cosmetic portrayals and representations of the Vice-Presidential candidate of APC at that event. They focussed on the appropriateness, type, and size of the shoe the ebullient Senator Kashim Shettima wore and wholly ignored the substance of his presentation. The slant of the social media and a section of media commentators is enough proof that we are a nation that loves chasing shadows instead of substance, a country of comedians that once made us the happiest people on earth. I understand the Nigerian audience’s picking entirely on the humorous dimensions of his presentation and persona, for we must not take life too seriously at times. However, we as a nation must chew and digest the meaty part of the presentation while assessing the qualities, ideas, and competencies of candidates vying for the office of the presidency in Nigeria.

    Senator Kashim Shettima, the former governor of Borno state, proposed two theses that deserve interrogation but for which only a few took note. The first thesis is that the changing global dynamics and complexity of the Nigerian situation demand that we enthrone leaders with a different skill set, mindset, and deep understanding of the world economy to survive and thrive in a fast-changing world.

    At the NBA conference, he and Peter Obi were united in a common position that the 2023 election should be about competence, character, and commitment to deliver on a shared vision. And not about tribe, religion, or connection. He argued that our next leaders must come with the right mix of leadership skillset, track record of performance in public or private life and a deep understanding of the global economy’s dynamism to make informed decisions.

    This leadership skillset entails that the leader must clearly understand our problems in all their ramifications, articulate solutions to these problems, put into action innovative and creative ideas on how to tackle these problems, and advance a shared vision for our country. These leadership skill sets are not just knowledge-based but are experiential. The leaders must have acquired them over time, practically actively leading and offering solutions and advancing humanity by enthroning prosperity and a better standard of living for all. Nigerians are yearning for this type of leadership.

    A performance track record over the years gives the leader experience in leadership required in a multi-ethnic, multi- religious and multi-cultural heterogeneous society. We need a Nigerian leader, not a tribal one. A leader who has demonstrated capacity in building bridges and creating national cohesion through extraordinary demonstratable and evidence-based engagement across the country. The leader’s record of performance should extend to his ability to accomplish incredible feats of progress, show extraordinary selflessness devoid of corruption, and have clear evidence of accomplishments in any sector of his endeavours.

    Sound economic knowledge has increasingly become an attribute a Nigerian President must have given the dire economic conditions of Nigeria and the corresponding bleak economic outlook for the future given our current economic and financial predicaments. On the issue of sound economic knowledge, Afe Babalola, SAN, had in an earlier open letter advocated its importance, especially at a time of national financial distress when economic direction from the top is needed. He must make very tough economic decisions to stop Nigeria from continuing haemorrhaging economically. The import of this thesis is what I advocated in my column of 13 June 2022, after the presidential primaries of the parties. I argued, “It is time to rethink our politics, party nomination process, the basis of our choices as individuals and the future of our country”.

    Shetima’s fundamental argument is that the forthcoming elections offer us an opportunity to rethink our leadership recruitment process. Times have changed, and the country is at a pivotal, historical, and precarious moment. We must consider the democratic basis of our electing national leadership and our overarching democratic values. Whether Shettima, his principal or any of the frontline presidential candidates satisfy his prescription of an ideal future president is a different issue altogether. The critical issue for resolution is how we ensure we elect leaders who fit this bill at the different levels of leadership. Whose responsibility is it to mobilise the populace to demand leaders with the right skills set for this season?

    The second thesis is that Nigeria is a giant in chains and only a visionary, competent, honest, determined, focused and innovative leader can set us free from this invisible chain and unleash our full potential. The imperative of his thesis is that our potential as a country has laid untapped and often wasted. We have been a nation of great potential for too long. This is more so because of our leaders’ poor leadership skills, corruption, and ineptitude. Some selfishly and shamelessly put themselves before the people they lead. Nigeria is a giant in chains and has not pulled its weight among the comity of nations. Recently it has been a butt of jokes among even smaller African countries how Nigeria no longer coughs, and cold catches the smaller nations. Nigeria’s per capita income is ranked lower than some smaller African countries. The paradox is that Nigeria has a significant natural, human, and technological capital but performs socially, economically, and politically abysmally.

    A cursory overview of our underutilised assets will give us a better perspective of the importance of this statement. We are the most populous black nation on earth, with 80% of our population below 50 years. This 80% population is at their most productive age, yet it has been most unproductive. Nigerians are some of the most intelligent and hardworking people at work. The Nigerian diaspora showcases ingenuity and doggedness in achieving great strides in their host countries. Our creative sector dominates Africa’s creative industry and is making waves internationally. However, a more significant proportion of our population is unemployed, underemployed, or unemployable. We have the 9th most arable land on planet earth and can feed most of Africa, but we are still a net importer of food to feed our teeming population, and most of our land is not put to optimal use. Our vast natural endowments remain untapped for national development, and where it is tapped, there is severe inefficiency and sabotage.

    Conversely, Nigeria leadership has been bogged down by the combined forces of vested interest; business cartels, economic collectives, multinationals, ethno religious factions, and regional bigots. Paradoxically, it is from these zones that our successive leaderships either emerged or are sponsored. The country has been held down by a lack of visionary leadership, corruption, weak institutions, lack of trust in our judiciary, inept and corrupt civil service, ethnicity and nepotism, dearth or poor infrastructure, and an unproductive population. The manifestation of this chain is a low level of human development, one of the lowest per capita incomes ($2,085), a high level of poverty (87m persons by 2020 world bank data), a high rate of unemployment (33.3%, NBS data), dependence on primary agriculture, insecurity, rapid population growth, high rate of out of school children, heightened insecurity and banditry, and secessionist agitations.

    The critical issue is who will break this chain and set us on the path to fulfilling our full potential. This decade’s most crucial action for Nigerians is to elect a capable president in 2023. This president will face the mother of all economic crises, given the dire nature of our economy. We are net consumers of goods and services, our exchange rate regime is almost collapsing, our debt to revenue ratio (120%) is alarming, our educational system is decrepit, and the moral and ethical fibres of the country are in tatters. It is a dog- eat-dog situation; for many, survival is a daily struggle. The new president must be capable of facing these challenges and articulating solutions.

    The new president in order to free the nation from the chains must first break the chains that tie him to existing power structure and break the symbolic chains of corruption, nepotism, mismanagement, and economic sabotage to make Nigeria great again. The president must make Nigeria productive and prosperous by situating Nigeria in the regional and global economic context that is pro-business, pro-education, pro-health, and pro-humanity. The new president must have a clear agenda and make
    a significant improvement in that area. He must harness the vast knowledge and intellectual capital of Nigeria. And create an enabling environment for most Nigerian to actualise their God-given talents and potentials, and contribute in building a virile, broad based and diversified economy.

    To break this chain, the president must rally Nigerians and carry them along. He must get the buy-in of many people and institutions to create a better Nigeria and lead from the front to achieve his goals. In making the needed tough decisions to reshape and structure our economy, the president must be both compassionate and courageous , confident, and resolute in carrying out the actions whilst empathetically taking care of the most vulnerable in society. The first few years of the next presidency will make or mar our chances of getting it right. Therefore, Nigerians need a president with the mandate of the people and the people’s interest at heart.

    Shetima’s vision of a new Nigeria is clear. That vision is encapsulated in breaking the symbolic chains limiting Nigeria from achieving greatness. The principal tool for this unchaining act is building an excellent economy based on productivity, socio-political cohesion, and security of lives and property of every Nigerian. If elected, the president and vice will have their work cut out to transform Nigeria. Nigeria truly needs a change that will impact positively on most Nigerians. It is time we broke the captivity and bondage of our symbolic chains and used the opportunity of the 2023 elections to get the right leaders who will make things right in Nigeria.

  • Easter: We must all put our nation first in our prayers, says Saraki

    Easter: We must all put our nation first in our prayers, says Saraki

    Former President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, in his Easter greetings to Nigerians said we must all put our nation first in our prayers.

    The former Kwara State Governor’s and his family congratulated Christians across the nation as they celebrate Easter.

    This was contained in a statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja, Saraki, who is also a former Governor of Kwara State, stated that this year’s Easter celebration, which also coincides with the Holy Month of Ramadan, was a critical intersection of Nigeria’s two major religions.

    He said:

    “As families across Nigeria and the world settle in to celebrate the significance of Easter, which commemorates the ascension of Jesus in the Christian faith, Toyin, the children, and I wish all those who are celebrating a very Happy Easter.

    “Today, we find ourselves in a critical intersection of our faiths. As our Christian brothers and sisters celebrate Easter, we, the Muslim Ummah, are still observing the Holy Month of Ramadan.

    However, we must all come together. Let us pray to the Almighty God for the peace, unity, and development of our nation; the protection of the lives and property of all Nigerians; and for the future of Nigeria.

    “Let us all remember that though we are of different faiths and religious practices, as Nigerians, we share common values and collective national aspirations. We all want our families and communities to be safe; we all want a thriving economy, and we all want a nation with ample opportunities for everyone.

    “This is why, as we all pray today and throughout this festive weekend, we must all remember to put our nation first. Let us seek the face of the Almighty God in finding real solutions to the problems that confront us. Let us also ask, that as we prepare to select our next set of leaders at all levels, may the Almighty God intervene in the affairs of men, and guide us all aright.

    “Happy Easter to you and your families!” the former Senate President stated.

  • Nigeria: A Nation Challenged, By Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar

    Nigeria: A Nation Challenged, By Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar

    By Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar

    The recent rearrest of the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was greeted with a loud sigh of relief and celebration in some sections of the country. It also elicited congratulatory messages to the Federal government which appears overwhelmed by the intractable security challenges and in dire need of any redeeming act. This is clearly an exaggeration of the security threat Nnamdi Kanu and indeed IPOB pose to our nation’s security and unity. It is quite strange and disturbing that the Federal Government is according undue attention to the threats of separatist movements in contrast to the more daunting ones posed by bandits, kidnappers and insurgents in the North West, some parts of North Central and North East.

    Activities of those criminals have resulted in the evacuation of over 20% of the villages in NW and NE. Hundreds are being murdered and maimed every week. Many more are kidnapped for ransom. Millions have been rendered internally displaced, facing disease and starvation. Over one thousand school children were abducted in the past 8 months with over 300 still in the hands of the bandits and kidnappers demanding humongous ransom payments. Rape of women and young girls has become a daily occurrence. Most economic activities,particularly farming, which is the mainstay of the people in these areas, are now all but impossible.

    Government’s earlier claim of having technically defeated the BH insurgency in the NE has turned out to be empty propaganda. Contrary to this claim,the enemy has morphed into a more determined and deadly force, threatening to overrun the whole of the NE.

    For the average Northerner living in these zones, who is barely aware of the activities of separatists, banditry,kidnappings and insurgency are of greater threat and concern to him.The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu is of no serious consequence, since it does nothing to ameliorate his harsh and brutal condition.

    In recognizing or reasserting the right of every citizen or groups to express their desire for self determination, one does not support or condone the use of violence for such purpose. IPOB and its leader may well be responsible for some of the violence, including the murder of security personnel, arson and destruction of public and private properties for which they should be held to account. We must however be honest enough to identify the cause of the current growing restiveness in the South East. By all means Government needs to deploy nonviolent means in addressing the problem. It is self-evident that Justice, fairness and equity are the best means of building a united and virile nation, particularly one as diverse and fragile as Nigeria.

    It is my long held that this Country’s is more beneficial to all the federating units, if only because it provides a security umbrella to all its units. None of them will fare better in a balkanized Nigeria due to their similar diversities. The recognition of Nigeria as the giant of Africa is not on account of its huge oil wealth but its size,diversity as well as other potentials. These not withstanding, the Nation can only remain united and prosperous when all its citizens and the component parts feel a true sense of belonging. Without it, the nation’s unity will be in serious jeopardy similar to what Nigeria is currently experiencing.

    Truth be told, the Buhari administration has so far exhibited poor skills in its management of our diversity. Yet it has the benefit of great examples by past administrations and statesmen which should guide it.

    After our bitter civil war, July 1967-Jan 1970, the then Head of the Federal Military Government, General Yakubu Gowon, declared a no victor, no vanquished reconciliation and reintegration policy. Its implementation may not have been perfect but it produced a guiding vision which served as a template for the reintegration of the Nation.

    In 1978, eight years after the civil war, the NPN Presidential candidate, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a former Commissioner of Finance the Gowon Government, picked his running mate, Dr Alex Ekweme from the SE. They won the 1979 Presidential election and enjoyed an enviable brotherly relationship as President and Vice President. They won a second term in 1983. President Shagari’s Government pardoned the former Biafra secessionist leader, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, which permitted him to return from exile in 1982. He went on to contest a senatorial seat under the NPN.

    These are in sharp contrast to the declaration of President Buhari after his election in 2015 in which he promised not to treat, on equal terms, those who gave him only 5% of their votes with those who gave him over 97% of theirs. This may account for his Government’s refusal to appoint an Ibo as Head of any of the Security services. A review of this ill-advised policy will go a long way to neutralise the growing influence of IPOB among Ndigbo, both at home and in diaspora.

    The FGN must go beyond the arrest of Kanu and pay greater attention to the more serious security challenges threatening to cripple the country completely. The apparent failure of our security forces to deal decisively,as the President so often commands them to do,with these security threats is obviously due to the acute shortage of manpower and equipment. These deficiencies have resulted in the thin spread of our forces and lack of timely rotation in areas of conflict. Government must massively increase security manpower and equipment. As we have seen, mere change of Service chiefs would appear far from being the solution.

  • One Tweet and a nation in a trail of trouble, By Okoh Aihe

    One Tweet and a nation in a trail of trouble, By Okoh Aihe

    By Okoh Aihe

    Let me state without equivocation that it looks to me that Nigeria never really forgave Twitter for taking its African headquarters to neighboring Ghana. So all that shemozzle about the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Tweet being removed was a deliberate scheme to excavate a residual hurt and manipulate it to mask or obviate one of the saddest moments of our history, when our country folks across the land were being taken down by bandits and terrorists. Unprotected.

    One was alarmed when the story was unfolding, to gather that the minders of our President were running around him with the absolute misinterpreted information that Twitter took the action to undermine or attenuate the worth of a President who, is perhaps, the greatest African personality since Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately, that was one action too many, and an insignificant policy decision by an international organization soon attracted global attention, and redirected focus on the failings within our nation, with countries and international media subjecting us to ridiculous admonition and unsavory reportage.

    The shame is on those who quake to speak the truth to authority in very difficult times, those who tend to divide us and divert our attention from desperate situations that need urgent attention. Those who use their propinquity to power to sow lasting seeds of hate with the ephemeral hope that tomorrow would never come.

    Did it ever occur to his minders that except for the love for our President, what he said in the Arise TV interview could be described as morbid and capable of having a cataclysmic effect on a whole region of the country? And there is some level of cataclysm anyway except that they are too dishonest to accept it.

    Devoid of such understanding, they tried to turn some slight breeze into a storm by banning Twitter operations in Nigeria and issuing a directive to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to start the licensing of OTT operations in the country. After all, they are protecting the Commander-in-Chief. How very preposterous!

    Really? The Social Media Bill died a natural death in the National Assembly over a year ago. That Bill didn’t emerge out of a need or convenience but out of scurrility of mind and a predetermination to do evil by obstructing social media channels. Words will fail any writer to describe the ineptitude and the obscene acquiescence of the current Assembly, who would do everything for the authority but never support the people for anything. Fortunately, the people won a major victory when they forced the Assembly to pull the Bill in shame.

    So in solving one problem, this government simply opened another channel to outrage and incredulity.

    OTT is over-the-top operations by operators who are not telecommunications or broadcast operators but rely on the built-up facilities of licensed telecommunications operators to do their business. Just like the bat which is not a bird or land animal, the OTT operators fit into no particular field of operations and yet some of the companies are providing impressive value added services. I will express some level of bias here to say that some of the operators actually weigh heavily towards telecommunications. So, any suggestion of licensing, no matter how very outlandish, should be directed at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    This doesn’t mean that the OTT operators are liked by any traditional operator whether in broadcasting or telecommunications. In fact, telecommunications operators have always accused OTT operators for visiting their breakfast table uninvited, and taking away what should be profit to the telcos. The reason for this is that OTT operators just ride on the availability of good internet connection to reach their market with attractive products.

    So disagreeable have they been that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and other organizations like the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) have tried to create more understanding of OTT through research works and appropriate definitions.

    Let me therefore present the CTO definition in a 2020 Report wherein it leveraged on the definitions from ITU, Ofcom, which is the UK regulator, and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication (BEREC) to arrive on a more fitting definition.

    “OTTs can be content, a service or an application that is provided to the end user over the public Internet. OTTs can be distinguished between those that are electronic communication services (OTT-ECS), those that potentially compete with electronic communication services (OTT-Com), those that potentially compete with broadcasting services (OTT-Content) and those that neither compete with electronic communication services nor broadcasting services (OTT-Other).

    While the above definition tried to capture every facet of OTT operations, it will serve some purpose to list some of the operations that fall under OTT for more understanding. They include: Zoom, Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, SnapChat, WeChat, TikTok, YouTube and Netflix, among others. Now I am afraid to include Twitter in order to avoid the wrath of the powerful who are waging war against technology like those who fought against the democratization of phone ownership in Nigeria. I am sure that online platforms and media in the country would also be subjected to such licensing.

    Intrusive as their operations may be, licensing and control of OTT operations have been a problem globally. What jurisdictions do is to be creative in taking measures that can help tax these operators who make so much money but have little commitment to infrastructure development in an operating environment.

    It is worthy to point out here that in the case of Nigeria, there is no law which has empowered the NBC or NCC to license OTT operators. The ‘learned’ ones amongst us can look at the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, the National Broadcasting Commission Act CAP N11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015.

    It is not how we feel or the depth of our anger, but it is what is written in the documents aforementioned that should dictate our actions. We shouldn’t create a situation and work to the solution outside of the rule book.

    Good Wishes to Balarabe Shehu Ilelah

    It is fitting to congratulate Mr Balarabe Shehu Ilelah as the new Director-General of NBC, having been appointed last week by the President. That is the hottest seat to occupy in Nigeria today, rendered more insecure by the Broadcast Act. From one journalist to another, I want to observe he is like one invited to participate in an egg race, with the raw egg in the spoon being given to him. He needs to race with caution in order not to witness an early torpedo. The Act is a troubling instrument in the hands of those who manipulate it.

    Okoh Aihe writes from Abuja

  • Fashioning a People, Building the Nation: Who are your People? (Part II) – Stan Chu Ilo

    Fashioning a People, Building the Nation: Who are your People? (Part II) – Stan Chu Ilo

    “The first step toward becoming a community is to recognize our own tower of Babel—our ethnocentrism. Each cultural grouping has a tendency to make itself superior, believing that its tower is better and taller and can reach the heavens. In a multicultural community, we need to identify our tower of Babel and decide
    to consciously stop building it. We need to come down from our tower, we examine each brick and wall, learning how we got that high. When we finally land—with a fuller consciousness and acceptance of who we are—we are ready to encounter others, who have also come down from their towers.” Eric Low

    Pope Francis recently asked people who are desiring for a better world beyond this pandemic to dare to
    “shake things up.” This is a poor translation of the Spanish phrase that Pope Francis used, hacer un lío
    which literally means “to make a mess.” The same ‘shaking things up’ is required in Nigeria for those, who
    like me, are hopeful that a better kind of Nigeria can emerge beyond these shadows. If you think that Nigeria
    is in a mess today, do not lose hope. Managing Nigeria’s diverse ethnic and religious groups is quite messy
    and has been quite messy partly because of bad politics and bad ethics. However, we can make a good mess
    out of this present situation by mixing things up better. However, for many frustrated country men and
    women, reimagining a better Nigeria that can emerge from the shadows of this present messiness might
    seem like a wishful thinking or even a form of madness. However, this is the very thing that Thomas
    Sankara, that great African son, said we need in Africa when he set out to reimagine Burkina Faso.
    On the 4th anniversary of the revolution that he launched in that country, he said: “You cannot carry out
    fundamental changes without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from non-conformity; the
    ability to turn your back on old formulas; the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday
    for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to
    invent the future.” What Sankara was saying is that we need courage and boldness to confront problems in
    Africa. We must dare to reinvent Nigeria. The first step to doing this will be to reject what failed in the past
    like secession, war, violence, Islamic supremacy, corruption, and what Jean-François Bayart in his book,
    L’État en Afrique: La Politique du Ventre calls ‘la politique du ventre’ (the politics of the stomach).
    In order to fashion a people out of the present diverse units that make up Nigeria, we all must be prepared
    to make a mess of our ethnic and religious identities. Ugandan political philosopher, Emmanuel Katongole,
    proposes that what we need in Africa today is a ‘confused identity’ in order to overcome the narrow and
    fossilized notions of unique ethnic or religious identity which continues to tear the continent apart. This
    does not mean that I should become confused about my Igbo or Christian origin and identity, but rather that
    my identity cannot be separated from other identities in Nigeria, Africa, and the world that make up who I
    am. I cannot, therefore, conceive of myself outside of the vast cultural subjects and networks of belonging,
    behaving, and believing, that influence and define me beyond my Igbo or Christian roots. I become
    ‘confused’ about my identity in the sense of arriving at that place of comfort, where I am no longer
    imprisoned in my own false sense of a unique or purist Igbo or Christian identity. Rather, I begin to
    appreciate and see myself in and through others. This way, who I am becomes only a legible marker cast
    within the diverse religious mural, and variegated cultural canvass of my non-Igbo or non-Christian brothers
    and sisters, who with me make up the beautiful tapestry of the diverse, and complementary map of Nigerian
    identities. It is thus possible to imagine and embrace such a capacious social space and map of a Nigerian
    universe, where everyone matters and every culture and religion counts.
    In this second part of my discourse on fashioning a people, and building the nation in Nigeria, I will like to
    show just how foolish it is to think that there is a unique Igbo, Yoruba, Efik or a Fulani cultural or
    geographical space in Nigeria, where each unit can find shelter and be freed from the depressing and
    scorching harsh weather of unacceptable social condition. While I am convinced that the future of Nigeria
    in its present form today will lead us to what Edward Said calls ‘a punishing destiny’, I do not think,
    however, that those calling for secession as the solution to our present situation in Nigeria, are offering their
    people any serious option. It might look good on paper, but as they say the devil is in the details. On the
    contrary, this call to break up being heard in Nigeria today are lamentations from all parts of the country
    that people are suffering and that there is so much injustice in the land, and so much violence, and
    waywardness among our ruling elites particularly the insensitive and failed ethno-religious Islamic
    supremacist agenda of our current President.
    Who are your People?
    One of the most depressing responses I got from one of my friends from the North with whom I shared my
    plan to leave the Western world and relocate to Nigeria was: “Why do you hate yourself that you wish to
    come back to this mess?” I told him that I feel that without boots on the ground with my people I cannot
    be an authentic and credible witness. “I must be with my people”, I said to him. But he taunted, “Who are
    your people—Boko Haram, Fulani kidnappers, these crazy Buhari people eh…?” My friend’s strong
    discouragement that I should not even contemplate coming back to Nigeria because the single wish of many
    Nigerians is how to escape from the country, made me to take seriously to heart the task of figuring out the
    place of the priest, scholar, or any change agent for that matter in the movement of history: how can I or
    any other committed Nigerian contribute in designing a new architecture for Nigeria? How can each of us
    become an artisan, an actor (not a reactor) to the construction of a new Nigeria.
    My friend’s question, “Who are your people?”, is what I am trying to answer in this second part of my
    discourse. I will only provide some questions for consideration which I will up again in part three. This
    essay also responds to the challenge my friend, Bishop Kukah posed to me earlier in the year in response
    to a commissioned essay I wrote for the Christian Solidarity International, Geneva. Kukah wrote these
    words to me, “Stan, as I said this is an excellent job with fine and deep, academic prose. But as a Priest,
    you must point out a path of hope with clear proposals of how to close this. I am unsure of how soon Nigeria
    will collapse, but I am doubtful that it will be soon. The Buhari administration’s waywardness should not
    define who we are, where we have come from and where we are going?”
    Who am I?
    So, who are we really as Nigerians? Where do we come from? Who am I really? The answer to this last
    question will surprise you:
    When I am in the company of my white friends here in North America, Asia, and Europe, they refer to me
    as an African or a black man. When I mingle with fellow Africans in international fora, they call me a
    Nigerian. When I participate in any event with Nigerians, they call me an Igbo man. When I mingle with
    my fellow Igbo people, they call me a Wawa, Enugu man. Then when I am in Enugu, I am called an Oji
    River or Awgu man, and among the Oji or Awgu people, I am called an Achi man, even in Achi my home
    town, people reduced my identity to my village, Adu Achi, and in Adu, they call me an Ojiri person etc.
    This fragmentation of who I am in an infinite indivisible manner can apply to other areas of my life. In
    religious setting, for instance, my Muslim or Hindu friends will call me a Christian and those within my
    own Christian faith will call me a Catholic priest, (or an unsaved person as one Evangelical once referred
    to me when preaching to me on the need for me to be born again). Colleagues in the Catholic tradition
    might even call me a conservative Catholic or a liberal priest depending on the side I took on any issue. I
    can apply this to my professional life as a teacher at a university or someone who works in the humanitarian
    sector. Human identity is so fluid, mixed, and confusing. The joy is that we all can take on different
    identities and God made it that way so that we can see ourselves not through the lens of a single identity,
    but through the multiple identities that locate us within time and space and place us in multiple relationships
    with others. Each of these identity markers gives you something, and denies you some other thing. It places
    you within a group; and excludes you from another group. It can place you in a palace; but it also can force
    you ineluctably, if you are not discerning enough, into a prison.
    It is important to note that what I am saying here is not unique to me, it is our human story; our Nigerian
    story. Most Nigerians on a normal day see something of themselves in other Nigeria in our food, language,
    dress, songs, books, and fashion among others. This being the case, it is important that we pause as
    Nigerians to really ask ourselves who we are and how we frame these identities? Indeed, scholars are
    reminding us of this hybridity that is becoming our lot as humans in an inter-connected world because we
    live in what Amatyr Sen calls a world of ‘choiceless identity.’ Sen argues that many of the conflicts and
    barbarities that have visited our world are often sustained by the illusion of unique and choiceless identity.
    According to him, history shows us that ‘the art of constructing hatred’ often arises when people invoke the
    magical power of some predominant markers of identity that drowns other affiliations and weaken people’s
    natural capacity to empathize with the others particularly the vulnerable and minorities in our societies.
    Ghanaian-American philosopher, Anthony Appiah bemoans the narrow construction of identity in the world
    today as ‘lies that bind.’ This is because for the most part, the talk about a distinctive identity are often
    appeals or claims that are deployed in power contestation. In many instances, identities are malleable social
    constructs that people can refine, revise, reform so as to create something that can bind us rather than
    something that divides, and convulse us. He proposes that progressive and inclusive societies must embrace
    a cosmopolitan spirit which embraces toleration of the ‘other.’
    Appiah invites us to question some of the commonly accepted claims and myths that at the core of each
    identity that there is some similarity that binds people who share that identity together. Particularly, we see
    these kinds of claims in Nigeria where people who are calling for Biafra, for instance, or for a Christian
    republic or an Islamic North governed by Sharia and a religious cleansing of Christians, fail to admit that
    our respective ethnic and religious identities have greater internal diversity, divisions, stereotypes and
    exclusionary practices than we often admit. Thus, the idea of a homogenous ethnic or religious identity in
    Nigeria into which we can fly for patronage and succor from the destructive politics of Nigeria is only but
    a myth. Therefore, while we may not dispense with identities all together, Appiah proposes that “we need
    to understand them better if we can hope to reconfigure them, and free ourselves from mistakes about them
    that are often a couple of years. Much of what is dangerous about them has to do with the ways identities
    divide us and set us against one another.”
    Identity politics in Nigeria, in my thinking, is part of the elite contestations and manipulation of the masses
    of our people. Most ordinary Nigerians live together in peace with one another. Everyday Nigerians simply
    want to get on with their lives. Nigerians are praying every day to enjoy the basic necessities of life, and
    exercise the religious freedom to worship their God the way each person knows best, and pursue their daily
    tasks, and enjoy security of lives and property. Identity politics in Nigeria only serves to gas-light the
    burning frustrations of the masses of our people; to promote the narrow interests and politics of the stomach
    of a few people in the country, while the masses of our people are sacrificed daily as pawns in this unending
    political chessboard about religion, ethnicity, and other unhelpful social hierarchies and stratification.
    Some people might say that what I am saying here is only an academic or armchair speculation. However,
    my conviction is that if we Nigerian intellectuals, thought leaders, and leaders at different levels do not take
    up seriously the task of questioning some of the cheap and destructive narratives out there in the country
    by coming up with new ideas on how to reinvent the future, by reimaging what this country can look like,
    people in the next 50 years will wonder what kind of mad people lived in Nigeria in the years of the
    pandemic. Claude Ake was the first serious Nigerian intellectual to begin to lay down some building blocks
    for a social theory for reimagining and reinventing Africa particularly in his A Theory of Political
    Integration (1967) and Democracy and Development in Africa (1996) Sadly, death took him so early at 57
    through a plane crash—an all-too-common cause of preventable deaths in our country as was seen two
    weeks ago in the tragic loss of the crème de la crème of our Nigerian Armed Forces.
    At the highest political level, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania committed his whole life to building Tanzania
    into a people. It is no surprise that Tanzania has remained one of the most peaceful and well-integrated
    country in Africa. It has its challenges for sure, but people are not killing each other nor are Muslims and
    Christians in Tanzania fighting or burning down their houses of worship. Tanzania which is has a Christian
    majority, has a Muslim woman as her President. Why will terrorist cells operate in Kenya and not in
    Tanzania? Why will war and genocide and dictatorship hunt all the countries surrounding Tanzania—
    Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, even Somalia—while Tanzania is unaffected?
    What I am saying here by referring to Tanzania is that what we can learn from that country is that diversity
    of race, ethnicity, religion and geography are not in themselves the causes of war or failed states; it is all
    about how they are managed—the politics of building a people. We can also give example in West Africa
    of Senegal and the fact that the first president of Senegal was a Christian whereas Muslims make up to 95%
    of the population. What are Muslims of Senegal doing that Muslims in Northern Nigeria, for example, need
    to learn? These are some questions that Nigerians should think about.
    So, what kind of future do we wish to see for ourselves as a people? How can we reinvent and reimaging
    this future? How can we get from A-B, and then gradually to Z? We must remove this scale from our eyes
    and this tunnel vision of thinking that our march towards Afro-modernity must be continued through these
    destructive steps that have led us to greater woes and tears. We must wake up from the folly of thinking
    that the African predicament that we see in the politics of the stomach of Nigeria politicians and religious
    elites can be resolved through breaking up the polity.
    The point I am making here is to agree with Benedict Anderson that nations are “imagined communities”
    meaning that nations are built, they are not found or given to people just in the same way that people do not
    discover team; teams are built. As imagined communities, people in every nation can be formed through
    transcending our identity politics and differences through what Anderson calls, ‘horizontal comradeship’
    in finding common grounds. Most people in our country for example from Sokoto to Port Harcourt may
    not have met each other, how can they see themselves as belonging to one country? This is what Anderson
    claims can happen when people boldly set about the task of reinventing a nation and reimagining the future.
    It is possible then, I argue to build up a sense of communion among ourselves despite our differences; we
    can and do need to imagine belonging to the same collectivity, and accompany this collection mission or
    journey through memories of our common history, traits, beliefs, and attitudes which can help us to become
    a people pursuing the greater good of everyone.
    We will build Nigeria and decide together how to structure that relationship through dialogue and the
    principles of justice. However, to begin this task, we Nigerians must first stop fighting each other, casting
    stones on one another. We must stop this noise all over the place and rumors of war or impending doom
    and gloom. We all, particularly leaders, must set about the task of reimagining us as a people. In the next
    part of my essay, I will suggest how we can fashion ourselves into a people or rather into peoples within a
    people. It is an attempt at a social theory for a reimagined Nigeria.
    *I dedicate this essay to the memory of Fr Alphonsus Bello Yashim, the 33-year-old Catholic priest,
    abducted and killed by as yet unknown gun men. May your blood and that of so many Nigerians who are
    being killed in this messiness, cry out to heaven for the renewal of these lands and the end to this violence.
    May we fight for justice for you and those who have needlessly been taken away from us in a country that
    failed you.
    Stan Chu Ilo is a Catholic priest of Awgu diocese and a research professor of African Studies and World
    Christianity at DePaul University, Chicago, U.S.A and an Honorary Professor of Religion and Theology
    at Durham University, Durham, England.

  • Oduduwa Republic: Yoruba people are ready to die in pursuit of our nation – Gani Adams

    Oduduwa Republic: Yoruba people are ready to die in pursuit of our nation – Gani Adams

    Gani Adams, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, has said people of the Yoruba extraction are ready to die in the push to actualise Oduduwa Republic.

    Adams said some people of the Southwest are determined to pursue Oduduwa Republic.

    Speaking in Lagos yesterday, the former Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, leader said the Southwest reserves the legitimate right to struggle for Oodua Republic.

    Adams also lamented that the struggle has been hijacked by top politicians in the region.

    He said: “It is unfortunate that some people are determined to weaken the spirit of the agitators. Unfolding events in the last few weeks have shown that some prominent politicians have hijacked the struggle for the actualisation of the O’odua Republic.

    “It is an attempt to distract us from the true and original intention of the struggle.

    “But I want to say it here that the struggle to seek a new nation is the legitimate rights that we are determined to live and die for and we wouldn’t waiver in our beliefs and determination to liberate our race.”